Where Imginations die

I have read before people complaining about how Legos have changed. How they don't fuel kids imaginations like they used to. How the kits are set to only make what is pictured and come with insturctions so kids can't figure it out themselves. Hogwash I said! Kids will still use their imagination!

No, instruction books are where kids imaginations go to die.

My son has an amazing imagination when he is forced to use it. In the Northwoods for example without a limitless supply of toys and entertainment he turned driftwood into dinosaur bones. See this, is his stegosaurus..awesome right? He even buried them all in the sand and than pretended to excavate them. My hear swelled with pride at his resourcefulness, creativity and brains.


Than we came home. He was watching Wallace and Gromit's Grand Day out and he got this idea to build a rocket ship. I thought Great! I am in a mood today and I really just want to get a few projects done this will be perfect. Well he drew an awesome picture of the rocket, just like Wallace and then he set out making it with books and blocks. All was going well until 10 minutes into it when I wouldn't give him packing tape to hold his books together. I know, horrible imagination killer but we will not desecrate books!

So while he was at his quiet time I decided to use his Cranium Fort and build him one that he could play with so I could have the peace and quiet my racked brain so needed today. So I built what is the best that a mom can do with foam sticks...and it was a total bust. "its not big enough" "it's not orange" its not blah blah blah....so I told him FINE. You go build whatever you want I don't care just GO AND PLAY.

The first thing he says, "can I have the instruction sheet so I can see how to build a ship" Argh....He is so set on something looking just like the picture on the instruction sheet he cannot appreciate or make anything else! Grrrr.....I should have stuck with cleaning and crafting today, I would have been better off!